Flyin’ Miata: Attaining Ludicrous Speed

Stuff a V8 into a Mazda Miata? Sure, why not? In
reality, a lot of these conversions produce cantankerous,
ill-tempered beasts that suffer from a lack of
refinement. Flyin’ Miata has been developing their V8
swaps for years, though, and we recently took one of
their house cars for a spin: a fully loaded 2009 Power
Retractable Hard Top model.

First, the damage. Yes, it’s about a $50,000 conversion,
not including the donor car. However, for your
money you get something that could be sold to the
mass market, not just adrenaline-fueled gearheads willing to sacrifice comfort and convenience.
It’s a valid alternative to a late-model Corvette, Porsche GT3 or
Alfa Romeo 4C.

The heart of the swap isn’t a junkyard-sourced
engine of unknown heritage. They start with a brand new,
430-horsepower, 6.2-liter LS3–basically a new
Camaro SS engine that carries a two-year warranty.

mazdeuce wrote:
I can't quite believe anyone would pay for the swap and NOT spring for the 525hp motor.

It's a relatively recent addition to the line. But more importantly, it has a very different personality. The 430 has production car manners, great for a GT style car. It feels like it came from the manufacturer that way. The 525 is feral but is a bit more of a hassle in low speed driving and it is very obvious at idle. Bill at FM prefers the 430, I'm a big fan of the 525. We have the 430 in our NC PRHT and the 525 in the Targe Miata and the ND. All have the correct engine for their station in life.

12/8/2016 - Hiroshima - Japanese Automaker Mazda announced today the Zoom Zoomiest car in the car manufacturer's history, the Habu Edition Miata featuring an LS3 V8 from Chevrolet Performance. The Habu is a collaboration with Flyin' Miata out of the United States who provides the parts and engineering expertise to transform the playful MX-5 into a well-sorted - if tastefully overpowered - beast for the street. The Habu edition will be sold in Mazda dealerships with full factory warranty with an MSRP of $43,500, although a 20% discount is available to forum members of Grassroots Motorsports who have achieved "MegaDork" status.

captdownshift wrote:
I can't help but think that the targa car needs a pair of those mirrors (preferably of EFR variety) and another trip to a certain maritime Canadian province.

Lack of power was not the car's weak point in that race (well, lack of HORSEPOWER, lack of electrical power was a totally different problem), and it's packing about 50% more than it was last time already Turbos would only make it less reliable so the internet nerds could more easily fawn over the broken car in the parking lot.

pinchvalve wrote:
I found this online...
12/8/2016 - Hiroshima - Japanese Automaker Mazda announced today the Zoom Zoomiest car in the car manufacturer's history, the Habu Edition Miata featuring an LS3 V8 from Chevrolet Performance. The Habu is a collaboration with Flyin' Miata out of the United States who provides the parts and engineering expertise to transform the playful MX-5 into a well-sorted - if tastefully overpowered - beast for the street. The Habu edition will be sold in Mazda dealerships with full factory warranty with an MSRP of $43,500, although a 20% discount is available to forum members of Grassroots Motorsports who have achieved "MegaDork" status.
...on a fake news site run by a Trump appointee.

I figure with EFRs, drinking corn syrup and some water/meth that though horsepower isn't the problem, that 900+HP could be the answer. The answer to likely having a Formula Drift team campaign a Flyin' Miata and possibly not much else other than how to die smiling with poo coming out.

Flight Service wrote:
In reply to Keith Tanner:
You gonna honor that price AND the 20% off?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

I'm assuming that if it has a factory warranty, that you have to order it through your Mazda dealer. Let me know how that goes...

captdownshift wrote:
In reply to Keith Tanner:
I figure with EFRs, drinking corn syrup and some water/meth that though horsepower isn't the problem, that 900+HP could be the answer. The answer to likely having a Formula Drift team campaign a Flyin' Miata and possibly not much else other than how to die smiling with poo coming out.

Danny George did campaign both an NA and an NB in Formula Drift with 700+hp LS engines (Although not built by FM). Neither was particularly successful. And then recently Mike Whiddett built an NC (with ND front and rear bodywork, RX-8 suspension parts and RX-7 widebody components) with a 1000+hp twin turbo, quad wastegate, 4-rotor. It too has struggled to find a place in the sport.